Screamer
by GuileandGall
Summary: The prospect of the memory blocks baffled Cassie Ryder. The first was met with a detachment that she couldn't maintain when faced with truths about her parents that she couldn't have known. Thankfully, it's Harry that she runs into after the fact.


**Summary:** The prospect of the memory blocks baffled Cassie Ryder. The first was met with a detachment that she couldn't maintain when faced with truths about her parents that she couldn't have known. Thankfully, it's Harry that she runs into after the fact.

 **a/n:** This is a prompt sent in by knifeofdaudwall. Much appreciated it was a fun prompt to try to make work somehow, especially with this character. Some Hilarious Writing Prompts: #59 I'm a screamer. Not sexually, just life in general

 **Screamer**

 **-1-**

Her mother's face, her eyes—she never forgot them, but seeing her mother through her father's eyes through his memories tugged at Cassie's heart. Hearing his words …

 _Losing you is not an option. The kids aren_ _'t going to lose their mother. God knows they never had a father._

It was one thing for she and Pol to feel that way, but for her dad to know it. Cassie Ryder had never thought about whether her father knew that's how his children felt about him. She just assumed that like so many things about his twins, that he was oblivious. That their feelings wouldn't have mattered in the scheme of his world, his life.

Seeing that moment, seeing her father willing to break all the rules just to save their mother. Cassie always thought it was ego. That he worked on the AI just to prove that he could. She didn't know what he was trying to do. Neither of them ever said anything. And SAM …

She looked up at the central area of the node. Cassie's eyes tried to lock on one spot in the swirling blue and gold of SAM's interface, but couldn't fix on a single point. Her mind raced and the ship seemed to spin out of control around her. She could hear the voice, SAM's voice, though she wasn't sure if it was around her or in her head. It didn't matter.

After finally regaining her bearings, she spun on her heels and bolted for the door. It opened at the last second and she barreled right into someone.

"Ryder?"

 _Damn. Another familiar voice._

"Is everything all right?" Harry asked. She could feel his hands around her biceps, that same firm but gentle strength that always seemed to be present when he touched her.

She nodded; a muffled _mmhmm_ hanging in her throat. She dared not open her mouth. She blinked up at him once, read the concern in his eyes, then she wrenched herself out of his grasp. Eyes darting frantically, she dashed left past the security officer posted at her father's quarters and through the doors, which opened for her.

In that space, with the whoosh of the door behind her, she finally felt like she could let it all go for a moment. Like a tea kettle's whistle that let the pressure of the steam escape, Cassie opened her mouth and screamed.

 **-2-**

Baffled not only by the fact that the pathfinder ran into him in a panic, but by the way she just took off a second later without a word, Harry stared after her. The door slid shut, but hadn't sealed before the shriek pierced the relative calm of the room and the hallway beyond. He and the officer posted at the door shared a look, both stepped toward the door at the same moment.

"Perhaps, I should …" Harry said, not knowing what he should do. Though he was nearly certain that he'd be a better choice to investigate the scream than the young man posted at the door.

"Okay, Doc." He cleared Harry through the door with a look of relief.

The doctor waited for the door to close behind him again before he moved or even considered saying anything. He assessed the situation as best he could. Alec's quarters weren't foreign to him, but seeing Cassie laying face down in the center of the bed, like she just fell there—that was different. Her face was buried in the blanket and her hands just rested by her side like she didn't even try to catch herself as she dropped onto the mattress.

His steps were quiet. He didn't want to startle her, but feared that was exactly what would happen when he said her name. "Cassie?"

"I'm fine. I swear." Her voice came out a garbled muffled mess, but she didn't move.

"Are you sure?"

Her head shook, neon hair falling softly toward her face with the movement.

Standing a foot from the edge of the bed, Harry stopped. "We heard you scream."

"Ugh!" Blankets or no, that sound was quite distinguishable. With a groan, she pushed herself up and turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Her bright aqua eyes were a little redder than they had been in the hall. "What can I say? I'm a screamer."

The instant her words left her mouth her cheeks seemed to burn with color. Her eyes widened in realization as Harry tried not to smile. She shook her head, looking away as she started fidgeting with her hands. "Not sexually," Cassie insisted. She gasped and hid her face in her hands at that admission. "Just life in general," she added from behind her hands, clearly embarrassed.

Her neon hair curtained to hide her cheeks but the blush had spread to the tips of her ears and crept down her neck. Harry chuckled quietly and sat down beside her. Once her hands fell to her lap, he stared at them. Her short nails were coated in a vibrant shade of pink that challenged her burning cheeks in vibrancy.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he finally asked, breaking the silence that engulfed the room.

Cassie just shook her head. He wondered if it was because she didn't trust herself not to say something she thought might be embarrassing.

"Do you want to be alone?"

She didn't answer immediately. Just as he was about to get up, she shook her head.

Silently or not, that revelation made him smile. "Then we'll just sit here for a while."

This earned a nod. After a few minutes, her fingers stopped picking at her own nails and her hand laid on her thigh. Harry considered it for too long. Thought about just laying his hand over hers, just one comfortable point of contact to console her. But it wasn't until he felt the pressure of her shoulder against his that he finally responded.

He moved slowly. His fingertips grazed the back of her hand, which turned just so, to allow him to grasp her fingers. Cassie exhaled loudly and laid her head against his shoulder. It brought a smile to his lips and he rested his cheek against her hair.

They just sat there in a comfortable silence; Harry waiting in case she decided to tell him what happened.

The room reeked of Alec Ryder, clearly Cassie hadn't changed anything about the space. His books, keepsakes from his years of service, and other personal items still decorated the shelves and tables. Despite this being the Pathfinder's quarters, the Ryder holding that title hadn't made this room their own. A part of him could understand it—her father had been a driving force in the Initiative. She'd told him that she felt she still hadn't proved herself to the leadership, even after doing what they couldn't on Eos.

While he knew that one colony wasn't going to save the Initiative, he thought some credit needed to be doled out. _Of course_ , he reminded himself with a quiet huff, _he was biased_. Harry squeezed her hand.

When she moved, he straightened a little. "Thank you," she told him blinking up at him with aqua eyes sparkling with tears.

He stared at her for a moment considering a wealth of replies before settling on the simplest. "You're welcome."

The softness of her fingertips on his cheek froze him in place before her lips brushed the other side of his face. Then she gave his hand a squeeze. Cassie gathered herself up and got to her feet. "I should get back."

Harry just nodded. His gaze dropped toward their hands when she inched away. "If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me," he said with what he hoped sounded like a casual laugh.

Her cheeks flushed pink again when she smiled. "Yeah. I do." She turned and took a few steps toward the door where she stopped and looked at him again. "See you soon, Harry."

"Take care out there."

"That's Lexi's job," she chided, then her smile faded a little and her voice took on a more serious tone. "I'll try."

He gave her a silent nod. That's all one could really expect given the situation they had discovered in Andromeda. Once she left, Harry realized where he still was and stood. A part of him wanted to stay right there and let his mind play over those few minutes, but he couldn't justify that kind of self-indulgence. He had patients to care for, including her brother.


End file.
